Applies to two: Judge’s comments should be noted by all involved

You can bet your bottom dollar that representatives from the Wayne County Commission and the Board of Education probably left the presentation by Judge Howard Manning Tuesday at the Goldsboro Rotary Club certain that he was speaking to the other side.

The judge said — among other things — that if education is going to improve in schools across North Carolina that adults are going to have to get out of the way.

That means putting children first.

That is an easy statement to make — and affirm. Neither group in this county’s discussions over school funding and the county budget has conceded in any way that its membership was not acting in the best interests of the children.

That’s what both claim as their motivation for the protracted discussions about funding and priorities.

Yet, Judge Manning’s message is one that should become the watchword as the new era of cooperation and shared knowledge and responsibility begins downtown.

It will be interesting to see if anyone is going to be able to remember that there are children behind the numbers and test scores.

Education can be improved in Wayne County. Everyone knows that. What is still undecided is whether that improvement will last and if the county’s leadership really understands what it will take to accomplish it — and is willing to pay for it.